email: cpowell@cwp.io

Papers

Temporal and spatial variations of peak hour and idealised sine function fit are considered in reflection of an
extended model of the diurnal shift mechanism. This model is formed by extension of the currently understood
mechanism, providing a mathematical argument focusing on orbital velocity. Hourly detection counts collected
by forward-scatter radio detection are used as data to analyse the form of diurnal shift for each observer. The
fit and mean peak hour of the diurnal shift and are considered across nearly 350 observers, analysing variation
from 2000 to 2016, as well as variation between data from 9 latitude and 14 longitude categories spanning at
most 10 degrees each, to determine the agreement of data with the model. Modelling the orbital velocity of Earth as a
primary factor behind diurnal variation is supported by the timezone corrected peak hours and correlation
with longitude. The mechanism does not appear to vary with time, however the relative intensity of diurnal
variation with respect to background detection counts is damped as a maximum in these hourly detection counts
is observed. This provides a mathematical model of the diurnal shift mechanism, accompanied with support
from a large dataset.

The variation of hourly detection counts from almost 350 radio meteor detection stations is analysed to determine
the effect of year, time of day, and latitude on observations, as well as discussions of annual and monthly
variations. Results indicate a significant increase in hourly detection counts in 2009-2010, supporting previous
hypotheses of correlation between radio meteor detection rates and solar activity. Annual increases in meteor
rates during summer months are noted, with no clear explanation. Monthly variations are not significant. The
effect of latitude on detection counts is significant for years 2005-2016. For 12 of 17 considered years, night-time
detection counts are greater than day-time counts, likely due to changes in ionospheric structure at night.